"New Blue Coat"

My latest collage illustrates the memory of the eldest Murphy girl.  She and her father visited 265 McCord Street in the spring of 1948, hoping to find a new apartment for the family-there were eleven children with one on the way.  Mary Elizabeth was proud of the new blue coat she had been given for Easter.  While her father locked up, she stood outside, listening to the sound of children, coming from the windows above.  Everything seemed fine until cold brown liquid came pouring out of the sky onto her beautiful new coat.  The woman living on the floor above had emptied her teapot.  Her father cursed Madame "P" and so began the animosity between them.
Mr. Murphy decided to take the apartment and move his family to Griffintown from Verdun.  After more than sixty years, Mary Elizabeth speaks about the ruined coat as though it happened yesterday.

Juried Art Salon

My first collage for Murphys in Griffintown-"Counting" was selected for the Kingston Arts Council Juried Art Salon!  The opening was last week.  I was honoured to be included with so many amazing artists.  Each year the calibre of talent seems to increase!

Recently I've been busy working with Catherine Styles and The Grow Project in town.  It's a program for Grade 5 students to design, paint, garden and give.  Fabulous experiences, much work!

My current collage is growing in leaps it seems.  "New Blue Coat" is a  memory of the eldest Murphy girl (seven girls, five boys in all).  I knew when I heard the story I would have to construct it.  It takes place outside their residence, at 265 McCord Street.  I held the National Archive photos of the neighbourhood an inch from my myopic eyeballs to get the answers I needed-are there shutters on the windows? is there a basement? how many steps up? I feel more relaxed with this work...the building is not as omnipotent as St. Ann's church.  The story is unfolding and I have been taking photos of the collage in progess for a slide show.  More to follow.

The youngest Murphy girls-McCord Street,1954?

Just found this youtube video, a National Film Board documentary from 1947 "Montreal by Night".  Lots of great visual reference.
I can't wait to find more.

The Tuesdays



"The Tuesdays" collage on board, 2011

 In the early 1940s, Robert Murphy walked with his sons Bobby and John to St. Ann's Church, Griffintown, from their home in Verdun.  They made this "pilgrimage" each week to experience the Marian devotional commonly known as "The Tuesdays".  My Uncle Bobby reminisced about this when I met with him in June 2010.

Can you imagine walking 5 km for a Tuesday service?  Apparently this devotional to Our Lady of Perpetual Help was very popular for Roman Catholics all over Montreal. 



St. Ann's Church circa 1911
 (note the missing "hat")



This collage was pivotal for me and the exhibition.  It became so important to get the main character-St. Ann's Church-just right.  I wanted to portray it accurately but not have it look stiff.  It needed to be welcoming yet powerful.  I wanted anyone who had ever laid eyes on it to instantly say "Oh look-St. Ann's!" I also focused on the atmosphere of the parishioners, crowding into the vestibule-hoping not to be late.  

My grandfather was very devout and had a strong connection with this church: in 1920 he took his first vows there towards becoming a Redemptorist priest.  I always wondered why he chose to live in Griffintown.  No doubt the rent was inexpensive-but I felt it had to be more than that.  I contacted the archivist at Redemptorist.ca and was given the information pertaining to Robert Murphy's time as a novitiate.  I knew from my research into his childhood in St. John, New Brunswick that his faith was important to him.  He and his family moved to St. Peter's parish in Portland(suburb of St. John) when he was ten years old.  This was a thriving Redemptorist parish closely involved with the neighbourhood that surrounded it.  In many ways, St. Peter's parish of 1910 mirrored St. Ann's parish of the 1950s.  They were both tight knit, Irish, Roman Catholic neighbourhoods in a large port city.  The Redemptorist Fathers provided schools, day cares, extra curricular activities and both had very devoted nuns working with them.

Is it any wonder Robert Murphy was drawn to Griffintown and St. Ann's?  He knew what growing up would be like for his children if they "belonged to" St. Ann's-a parish that had so much to offer.

I was shocked when I heard that St. Ann's had been torn down in 1970.  I sensed a feeling of loss when I walked over its foundation last summer.  I wanted so badly to walk in!  To find out what made it so special....I guess in the end it wasn't the building.  It was the people.

I Never Met My Grandfather



Mary Jane Cunningham
and Robert Alphonsus Murphy

 Central to the theme of the "Murphys in Griffintown" exhibition are my grandparents, Robert A. and Mary Jane.  I never realized how little I knew about them until I had to illustrate their lives.  It wasn't the likeness, but the atmosphere around them. 

The experience is unlike my work in commercial illustration, where you get an article or an ad idea to work from.  After interviewing one of the Murphys (my aunts and uncles), I had to write the article too.  The more they told me about St. Ann's Boys School, or the store on the corner- Beauchamps......I realized I couldn't "fake it".  I was out of my element.  I couldn't envision something I didn't know.

I began by studying maps and photos-then reading.  I had heard so many stories from my relatives about Mary Jane Cunningham and how she "came over" from County Down Ireland,etc.  I already felt I knew her.  The problem was my grandfather and how little I knew about him. 

Robert Murphy was adopted at a very early age and not much was known about his childhood.  My mother and I had done some geneological research in the 1970s without much luck (pre internet!).  So I was almost a complete novice when I dug into the glut of information available online.  My search lasted almost a year before I felt secure in my depiction.  By then, I had enough information to write a book!  (Not happening.)

I am now an arm's-length expert on the area once known as "Lower Cove" in St. John, New Brunswick-my grandfather's birthplace.  I have discovered his birth records and true parentage.  I guess it might seem like extreme research for a work of art...it was so much fun though!  I must admit during many late nights while searching online through the pages of a census or directory...I felt his presence. 

What's happening now?

My next art exhibition:  Murphys in Griffintown, has become quite a large research project, hence the blog!

The collages are based on interviews with the Murphy siblings, but doesn't include any actual photos of them.  I've chosen to stay true to the look of the period (1949-1956) and their memories but not their actual likenesses.

Having grown up listening to stories of McCord Street, and St. Ann's Church, I am overjoyed to be finding out so much about them.  I plan to write about my adventures with exhibition spaces, historical references, and COLLAGE.